- Associated Press - Wednesday, February 19, 2020

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Harvard and MIT’s hometown is closed to recreational marijuana businesses, at least for now.

Officials in Cambridge, Massachusetts, say they won’t the approve any local agreements with pot entrepreneurs until a lawsuit challenging its newly created cannabis business permitting process is decided.

The city posted the announcement late Friday, saying it has also appealed a state judge’s ruling temporarily overturning a key part of the new approvals process meant to prioritize black and minority-owned businesses.

Cambridge’s permitting process creates a two-year period in which only marijuana businesses approved under the state’s equity programs are eligible.

The programs are designed to give those disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, such as minority communities, priority in the marijuana licensing process.

Black and Latino groups have voiced their frustration at the slow pace of approvals for minority-owned businesses in Massachusetts and nationwide.

There are more than 30 retail pot locations open in Massachusetts, but none are owned by minorities more than three years after voters approved the nation’s first marijuana law aimed at encouraging black, Latinos and other people harmed by the war on drugs to participate in the new industry.

None of the currently opened shops are in Cambridge or neighboring Boston, either.

Revolutionary Clinics, a medical marijuana company that wants to start selling recreational pot at its Cambridge location, sued Cambridge, arguing the new rules violate the state constitution.

State Superior Court Judge Kathleen McCarthy agreed, ruling in January that the process appears to exceed the limited powers state law grants to municipalities to regulate marijuana businesses. She ordered the two-year moratorium lifted until the case is decided.

But Revolutionary Clinics said Cambridge officials are continuing to violate state law in refusing to consider any new applicants following the judge’s ruling.

“We remain ready and willing to work together toward a shared goal of building a diverse ecosystem of cannabis entrepreneurs in the city of Cambridge,” the company said in a written statement this week. “We are disappointed that City officials are putting their own political agendas ahead of that goal - and violating the law in the process.”

A city spokesman didn’t respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.

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